Filibuster may block jobless benefits

Jun. 24, 2010 12:00 AMAssociated Press

WASHINGTON - A Republican filibuster appears increasingly likely to kill long-sought legislation extending jobless benefits and a host of other spending and tax measures, despite a new round of cuts to the measure Wednesday that reduced its deficit impact even further.

A senior Senate Democratic aide said Wednesday evening that several days' worth of negotiations with a handful of moderate Republicans had failed and that a vote later this week to break the filibuster was likely to fail. Democrats would then abandon the measure. The aide requested anonymity.

Failure to pass the bill would mean about 200,000 jobless people a week would lose benefits that average more than $300 a week because they would be unable to reapply for additional tiers of benefits enacted since 2008. Governors denied help with their budget woes are likely to lay off tens of thousands of state workers.

A new version offered Wednesday by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid would cut about $8 billion from a state aid package and almost $2 billion in rescissions of unspent stimulus and Defense money.

The pared-back measure would add about $36 billion to the deficit over the upcoming decade, according to preliminary estimates, which is the cost of extending unemployment for the long-term jobless.

When the debate started three weeks ago, Reid pressed a version that would have added almost $80 billion to the deficit.